Rugby star's drink-drive sentence delayed

(GETTY IMAGES)

England rugby player Mike Tindall's sentencing for drink driving was adjourned today after legal complications.

The 30-year-old Gloucester centre admitted the charge before magistrates in July.

Tindall, of Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, was found to be over the legal limit when police pulled him over on the M4 near Newbury, Berkshire, on March 15 - the morning after a day at the races in Cheltenham with long-term partner Zara Phillips.

He was arrested and charged after failing a breath test.

He had been driving, alone, to Twickenham in his Range Rover Sport to commentate on England's Six Nations game against Ireland.

At the time of his offence, Tindall was out of action with a bruised liver, an injury suffered while playing against Wales.

He appeared today at Newbury Magistrates' Court for a "special reasons" hearing to put forward specialist medical arguments relating to his case to determine what his sentence should be.

But Tindall's defence team told the court today that expert medical evidence regarding the player's liver function was not yet ready to be heard.

District Judge Davinder Lachhar adjourned the case until December 5 for a review hearing at Reading Magistrates' Court ahead of the intended special reasons and sentencing hearing, likely to be on February 18 next year.